4of5Audiences will line up for “Rogue One” — it’s sold more advance tickets than any movie this year. But will it dominante water cooler conversations the next week?Photo: Walt Disney Studios

5of5Darth Vader returns in “Rogue One,” which takes place prior to the events depicted in “A New Hope.”Photo: Lucasfilm Ltd.

People will go to event movies; they jam the turnstiles even when they know it’s going to be a train wreck. But what makes movies linger in the public mind after the ride is over, and does “Star Wars” still do it?

“Star Wars” is the original multiplatform cinematic phenomenon — its grosses and merchandising, and its impact on culture, the lexicon and filmmaking (from both the creative and the business ends). Last year’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” is the highest domestic grosser. Ticket seller Fandango announced that presales of “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” which opens Dec. 16, set the single-day mark for 2016.

But does the series still make people obsess as the “Twilight” or “Hunger Games” movies did, hold it to their hearts as they do “Harry Potter,” or discuss as they were moved to by “American Sniper”?

It’s not just the bottom line, because, bottom line, how many actually care about “Transformers” or “Pirates of the Caribbean”? Those billion-grossing franchises generate fewer conversations than they do headaches.

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The “Star Wars” prequel trilogy damaged the series’ standing, just as the naked money grab of the “Hobbit” trilogy did to the Tolkien films. An actual naked money grab might have been more fun to watch. If people talked about those movies, it was usually with a dark shake of the head: “It was so bad.” “Yeah.” “You seeing the next one?” “Yeah.”

“Star Wars” episodes I-III averaged a generous 66 on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer. “Force” (92) represented a new hope, nearing the ratings of episodes IV and V. There was grumbling when it didn’t collect a best picture nomination.

But just a year later, how many still consider “The Force Awakens” one of the very best films of 2015? How memorable was it? What discussions did it engender, apart from “The series is fun again” and “This really feels like the plot of ‘New Hope’ again”?

TV shows have taken up most available space at water coolers. “Game of Thrones” and “Walking Dead” and, to a lesser degree, “Westworld” have thrust their way into the conversation. “Thrones” has even carved entries into the popular lexicon, such as “Khaleesi” and “Red Wedding” and “getting Starked.” OK, we made that last one up, but it should be a thing.

“Star Wars” used to do that. Even the scruffy-looking nerf herders among us came to know “Jedi,” “lightsaber” and “the Force.” And I don’t have a bad feeling about saying this: Episodes IV and V are among the most quotable films ever.

Repeatable lines from ensuing episodes are one in a million (kid), “It’s a trap!” notwithstanding. Only serious fans can quote anything from “The Force Awakens.”

As early as this summer, “Rogue” ranked among the most-mentioned films on social media, according to comScore. Of course, so did “Suicide Squad,” and that movie’s lasting impact may be limited to an uptick in sexy-lunatic-in-short-shorts Halloween costumes.

Actually, Halloween costumes might be a fair indicator of what’s on people’s minds after they leave the multiplex. And “Star Wars” scores well by that metric. Or it doesn’t.

Rey from “Force” was one of 2016’s most popular, according to Rubie’s Costume Co. But the series’ other top seller? Darth Vader. And his appearance in “The Force Awakens” was limited to a heap of twisted metal and a pile of ash.

The glass-half-empty view would be: “The series’ main appeal remains in the past; ‘The Force Awakens’ didn’t generate memorable characters.” Half-full: “Look out for ‘Rogue One’ and the return of Darth Vader!”

Then again, Batman, Superman and Harley Quinn were also among Rubie’s best sellers, as reported by USA Today, and you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who actually loved those movies.

If “Force” signaled a return to roots, “Rogue One” looks like a voyage into uncharted space for the series — tightly focused, more grown-up storytelling not entangled by multiple threads of a cinematic epic’s tapestry.

Might this unlock an emotional connection to audiences again, as “Casino Royale” did for James Bond? Or will it, like “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,” stand head and shoulders above its fellows artistically, gross less and be abandoned?

Comparison to adult dramas, even a box office champ such as “Sniper,” seems inappropriate. Beyond the hero’s journey, even the original trilogy was blissfully unburdened by complex themes. George Lucas did inject some grown-up ideas — primarily about resisting authoritarianism — into the prequel trilogy. These were lost amid CG environments, racist stereotypes and generally low quality.

J.K. Rowling more successfully tinkered with those notions in her “Harry Potter” series, and the current “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” feels like an extended metaphor for being oneself — especially in the sense of sexuality.

“Zootopia,” unquestionably a “message” film, is a billion-grosser. So are “Captain America: Civil War” with questions about civil liberties and the limits of the law, and “Dark Knight,” its toe dipped into government surveillance. So maybe that would be one way for “Star Wars” to make a deeper mark again.